Batgirl, Volume 5: Art of the Crime – Mairghread Scott

Batgirl, Volume 5: Art of the Crime by Mairghread Scott

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This graphic novel combines Batgirl #26-29, Batgirl Annual #2 plus an 8 page story from Batgirl #2, which means that it was pretty long (because of the Annual). The Annual storyline focuses on the familial relationship between Barbara Gordon and her brother James. It is a creepy storyline, but you probably won’t really understand much of what’s going on unless you had familiarity with them from other comic runs. It also puts a strain on Babs’ relationship with her father, which is normally really healthy and normal.

The villain wasn’t particularly memorable, he was just an incredibly violent art thief… or so we think. They’re clearly setting up some new storylines and trying to work in some more humanizing stories for Barbara that pull from her struggles, family life, and introduce a new wannabe romance. Some of the people that disliked how post-Oracle Barbara Gordon was handled will appreciate her struggles to cope here when her chip malfunctions, but overall it wasn’t a storyline that added much in my opinion. I don’t feel that it would appease disappointed fans and it just felt forced.

Overall, this wasn’t the best series of comics that I’ve read of Batgirl, but I can’t really say they were the worst? They’re pretty middle of the road and forgettable, but the Annual made me want to read about Barbara’s backstory with her brother because now I’m curious.

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